Visiting Scholar Spotlight

Callie Marie Rennison, PhD

By Kathryn Burnham

Dr.
Rennison is a Professor, the Director of Equity, and Title IX Coordinator for
the University of Colorado Denver and the Anschutz Medical Campus. She earned
her BS in Psychology, MA in Sociology, MA in Political Science, and PhD in Political
Science from the University of Houston at University Park. Dr. Rennison’s work
is quantitative in nature, focusing on campus victimization, measurement of crime
data, and violence against marginalized groups including women, African
Americans, American Indians, and Hispanics. Her extensive and far reaching work
in this area led her to being awarded the 2016 Bonnie S. Fisher Victimology
Career Award from the Division of Victimology in the American Society of
Criminology. Dr. Rennison has worked as a researcher for the Bureau of Justice
Statistics and worked as a Post-Doc Fellow for the National Consortium on
Violence Research. She has authored and co-authored more than 60 peer-reviewed
articles, book and encyclopedia chapters. Additionally, she has co-authored
four textbooks relating to research methods, criminal justice, and the
psychology of violence. One of her more recent textbooks gained social media
attention for the inclusion of Brock Turner in a section relating to
information on rape. Dr. Rennison has brought in over $300,000 in grant money
for a range of different projects across her career.

Dr.
Rennison agreed to allow me to interview her at the 2016 American Society of
Criminology Conference in New Orleans, LA. She is a first-generation college
student who was “unsure how one can choose a major when you haven’t tried
everything!”. She spent her time in college cultivating her interest in
learning, until she found her passion in sociology, psychology, gender,
stratification, and statistics. She likened her approach to learning and
education as “seeing a door and wondering what’s in there and going in and
finding cool stuff that I could never imagine”.

Currently,
Dr. Rennison is working on several journal articles and the Routledge
International Handbook of Violence Studies, with Center Director Dr. Walter
DeKeseredy. When asked where she sees her research going Dr. Rennison said that
she likes to write journal articles, but a lot can be said for “big picture
projects that brings people together”. Also, she wants to answer questions that
she “thinks matter and can be used to change policy and make peoples’ lives a
little better”.

In
every interview, we generally like to ask our interviewees what advice do you
have for undergrad or graduate students? Dr. Rennison could not speak enough to
the idea that undergrads or grad students should do what excites them. She said
that she is “100% behind the idea of doing what you love”. More specifically
relating to undergraduate students and grad students, Dr. Rennison had this to
say:

“For undergrads,
I think of how some professors treated me as an undergrad, and I try to do this
as a professor. Specifically, when I see a student who I know has promise, who
likely has no idea they have promise, I tell them that they should continue
their studies. Often it changes everything for that student like it did for me.”
For a grad student getting ready to go out on the job market, if you get a few
job offers, go where you want to live…your work, no matter how much you love
it, it can never be your whole life.”

As
a first-generation student myself navigating academia, Dr. Rennison’s words and
interview was a welcomed affirmation of my place in academia. She is down to
earth, accomplished, and is truly dedicated to helping make the world better
for people. The Research Center on Violence thanks Dr. Rennison for her
continued effort as a research associate. You can learn more about Dr. Callie
Rennison here.